Shedding and resynthesis of receptor for mouse red blood cells on lymphocytes from healthy subjects and chronic lymphatic leukaemia patients

The shedding and resynthesis of receptors binding mouse red blood cells was investigated in lymphocytes of normal peripheral blood and in that of chronic lymphatic leukaemia patients. In the first hours after incubation the release of the receptor from the membrane is observed and its resynthesis occurs after 5 h. Metabolic poisons inhibit the reappearance of receptor while specific inhibitors for protein synthesis do not influence these phenomena.Compared with normal lymphocytes, cells from CLL patients show different patterns of shedding and resynthesis of receptors suggesting an altered metabolism of leukaemic lymphocytes.